Transparent: A DIVERGENT Fanfiction
by 1HSMfan
Summary: This story is set a few years before the DIVERGENT trilogy takes place. In a world where people are divided into five factions, an Amity girl named Tully struggles to fit into her faction, and on Choosing Day, she struggles to choose between betraying her family... or being transparent.


**Chapter 1**

My mother smiles softly and tilts her head affectionately, her silky, dark curls falling onto her face. You would figure, by this observation, that she truly understands, but she does not. I can see it in the way her eyebrows arch closer to her eyes, and the way her jaw hardens when she finishes her sentence:

"Your father and I will completely understand if you choose to move to another faction in the next few weeks. We will support any decision you make." I can't blame her, though. When my older brother, Victor moved to Dauntless, Amity's polar opposite, she was devastated. Said father squeezes her hand, and his dark brown eyes dilate in what I suspect is dread.

"Mom, please don't lie to me." Her hazel eyes widen in shock. "I get it. Victor's choice put a huge toll on you." She sighs, relenting. My voice softens, and I put a hand on her shoulder. "But you can't forget the saying: "'Faction before blood.'" My father, mother and I recite it in unison and then laugh, but that certainly doesn't alleviate the tension that rests in the air. I think I have made it much worse. I have an unfortunate tendency to create tension with my words, not dissolve it like Amity are supposed to. I speak with such incision, that holidays with family become uncomfortable. I don't belong here, and everyone knows it; they just won't say it.

Because that's what we are supposed to do: avoid conflict; pretend it isn't there. But I, instead, continue to produce it. If anything, I belong in Dauntless. Almost as if to make my point, I walk away to my room, leaving the conversation hanging in the air. The wooden floors creak under my heavy gait, and I almost trip over my long red skirt because I'm walking so rapidly. I force open the heavy wooden door and walk to the window, opening it to get a fresh breath of air. My eyes rest on the _breathtaking_ view of the other organic, eco-friendly houses that are clustered together. If I squint, I can see the orchard fields and the city of Chicago.

I sigh and close my eyes, thinking about what a life in Dauntless would actually be like. I'd see my brother from time to time while completing the initiation. I wouldn't have to hide anything anymore, and I would be able to run everywhere and do anything I wanted. I'd be free from a life of pain and deceit. _Free_...

"Tully!," my mother calls. "It's time for us to leave!" This is great. _Excellent_. The aptitude test, my decision, is only about fifteen minutes away from me. I'm praying that the aptitude test won't be difficult, and that somehow I will be able to get the highest result for Dauntless or even Erudite, so that my excuse for leaving my family will be viable. Oh, no. Now I'm just trying to convince myself; it's not like I can tell anyone about my aptitude results. We exit the front door and begin the long journey to the Amity orchards, where there are cars to transport us to the city. I relish the feeling of the dirt underneath my feet, and the way the wheat strands lightly brush my chestnut brown skin, for this may be one of the last few times I may ever have this experience.

"Tully, please hurry along," my father yells back to me, and I realize I have been dragging. He is a long distance ahead, almost to the black crossovers that line the end of the orchards. I run to get to him, my curly hair billowing behind me. When I get to the cars, I am out of breath, and I stoop over to catch it, putting a hand over my chest.

"Well, looks like someone's not going to be Dauntless," a voice says. I look towards the voice, and realize it's August, who definitely doesn't belong in Amity. Trying to ignore how handsome his curls, brown eyes and smooth skin are, I say,

"Are they not giving you enough peace serum? Sounds like you might want to be Dauntless, pansycake!" Pathetic. I can't even conjure up a good insult. That's just something I hear the Dauntless say to each other every once in a while. Making a huge effort not to look at his face, I turn around and jump into the car where my parents wait and ignore the laughter behind me. The car zooms into the city, and the setting takes an unfamiliar, unsettling change for me. The dirt becomes concrete and gravel, the sky becomes a charcoal grey, and tall buildings appear instead of wooden complexes.

I smile as I see the Dauntless run towards the city center, shouting and laughing and shoving each other without a care in the world. The Candor, clad in black and white with their heated discussions; the Abnegation, who walk so solemnly you'd think they were making their way to a funeral, and the Erudite, who walk swiftly with a sense of purpose. Much to my parent's chagrin, I jump out of the car and strut to the building's entrance. I want to get this over with as quickly as possible. When I sit down at one of the tables, no one accompanies me, so the other factions stare strangely at me, perhaps wondering why an Amity is sitting alone, without a peer. I don't mind not having anyone to sit with. It makes me feel less uncomfortable. They start calling out names, one by one. Amity names.

"Slader, August." As he walks to the assigned room, he gives me a snarky look. I give him a glare, trying to be fierce, unbroken, but I can't. This aptitude test will tell me what faction I really belong in, and that scares me. If I get Dauntless, I will have betrayed my family. When Victor left for Dauntless, and I saw have devastated my parents were, I made a vow that I would never, _ever_ move away from them. But now, that vow is being put to the test. Literally. I know I'm strong, but I just can't take that. I look at my reflection in the glass, hoping to see some sort of truth, but it only serves to make me more anxious. My face is flushed, and I'm biting my lip so hard it almost bleeds. I close my eyes, trying to make it go away, go _away_. But that's when they call me.

"Adami, Tully."


End file.
